Ominameshi B

女郎花：乙 Ominameshi

1 Source and/or Related Material

medieval commentaries on the Kokinshū

2 Author

Unknown

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A travelling monk (waki) bound for the capital from Matsura in Kyūshū is passing by the foot of Mt. Otokoyama (“Man Mountain”), and he comes upon Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. The monk is about to pick a flower called Ominameshi (“maiden flower”), when an old man (maeshite) stops him. The two then have a conversation about waka poetry, Buddhism, and gender. The old man leads him into the shrine, to two burial mounds called “Man Mound” and “Woman Mound” at the foot of the mountain. The old man then reveals that he is Ono no Yorikaze, the man buried in the “Man Mound”, then disappears. A local (ai) comes and tells the story of Ono no Yorikaze in plain speech. At night the monk is reciting sutras for Yorikaze, and sure enough he appears with his wife in his true form (nochishite, nochitsure). The two describe how the wife grew jealous and drowned herself over a misunderstanding, how maiden flowers bloomed on her grave mound, and how Yorikaze then killed himself to follow his wife. They describe the torments of hell that they are now experiencing and ask for more prayers.